UK CVD costs to reach €23.1 billion by 2020: study

Cardiovascular disease is currently costing the UK €19.8 billion a year, and this figure is set to reach €23.1 billion by 2020, according to new research.

Direct and indirect costs of CVD represent 1.4% of UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the nation carries the second-largest burden, after Germany, among six major European Union (EU) nations – the other four being France, Italy, Spain and Sweden. Together, these six countries account for 74% of the EU’s GDP and 64% of its population, and the total costs to them of CVD is set to soar from €102.1 billion by the end of 2014 to €122.6 billion by 2020, says the study, which has been published by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr).

Direct healthcare costs attributable to CVD currently total €81.1 billion across the six nations and they will have reached €98.7 billion by the end of the decade, while indirect costs from premature mortality and morbidity will rise from €19.6 billion and €1.4 billion, respectively, to €22.3 billion and €1.6 billion by 2020, the study estimates.

Mortality rates from the disease are set to increase from 1.12 million today to 1.22 million by 2020, and 93,584 of these deaths will be among the working-age population, it adds.

The study finds that Germany currently faces by far the highest cost from CVD out of the six nations, at €37.4 billion or 1.4% of GDP currently, and that this is set to rise to €41.3 billion.

For France the current cost is €15.6 billion (0.8% of GDP), forecast to rise to €18.7 billion, while for Italy the increase will be from €18.3 billion (1.3% of GDP) to €23 billion. Spain’s costs will rise from €7.7 billion (0.7% of GDP) to €10.9 billion, and for Sweden they will increase from €4.3 billon (1% of GDP) to €5.3 billion.

Cebr economist and lead author of the report Sandra Bernick points out that the costs from CVD to the UK economy are large in comparison with other European nations, and that unless actions are taken to address this challenge, the economic burden will become ever more substantial.

The study was commissioned by AstraZeneca, which has called for a “continued, coordinated focus across industry, academia, healthcare systems and governments” in order to “address this epidemic head on.”